TRENTON, N.J. (Legal Newsline) – Questions of how far a towing company can go in charging customers who did not consent to the towing of their vehicles were answered in the Superior Court of New Jersey’s Appellate Division on June 14.
The appeals court ruled in favor of each plaintiffs' cases against a number of towing companies in a consolidated appeal. The court reversed an order against plaintiff Christopher Walker that granted the defendant in his case, All Points Automotive & Towing Inc., summary judgment.
The court also reversed an order that denied plaintiff Bernice Pisack’s request to certify a class and granted B&C Towing Inc.'s motion for summary judgment. It remanded the case for further proceedings.
In the third plaintiff’s case, Eptisam Pelligrono v. Nick’s Towing Service Inc., the appeals court reversed an order that removed the plaintiff’s request to certify a class action. It remanded the case back to the lower court to permit class discovery.
While the cases are different, the appeals court’s ultimate decisions were similar. The court stated Walker’s car was towed in 2012 after an officer stopped him and discovered the car Walker was driving wasn’t registered. Walker’s complaint came after he registered his car the same day but All Points Towing did not return his car to him and stated it was closing for the weekend, allegedly despite the police’s instruction to release his vehicle.
All Points stated authorities never told it to release the car. Walker was ultimately billed a total of $290.85. He later filed a lawsuit.
Pisack's car was illegally parked by her son in 2013 when B&C Towing, which has a contract with the city of Newark, New Jersey, towed her car. Her bill totaled to $152.45 after her son picked up the car the same day. Pisack later filed a complaint.
As for Pellegrino, her car was towed by Nick’s Towing after she was in a car accident. Her bill came to $448.36. She later filed a complaint to challenge the charges.
The appeals court brought up four issues for each of the cases: “(1) whether the [Predatory Towing Prevention Act] requires the exhaustion of administrative remedies and dispute resolution procedures before a civil suit can be filed in court; (2) whether towing companies that in engage in non-consensual towing at the direction of the police are immune from liability under the [Tort Claims Act] TCA for claims related to fees they charge; (3) whether TCA limits the types of services for which a towing company can charge a fee for the non-consensual towing of a vehicle; and (4) whether the [Truth-In-Consumer Contract, Warranty and Notice Act] TCCWNA applies to the non-consensual towing of vehicles,” according to the appeal.
It also raised the question of whether violations of those acts can be filed via a class action complaint.
The appeals court ultimately determined the Towing Act indeed doesn’t require one to exhaust all administrative attempts prior to disputing, The TCA is not an avenue for immunity when it comes to fees associated with non-consensual towing, the Towing Act does put a limit the services a towing company can perform and bill to customers, the TCCWNA does apply to vehicles that were towed without one’s permission. It also decided class action claims can be filed concerning non-consensual towing.